My Embarrassing Secret!!!

Feast your eyes on this disaster! This..(swallow).. is my studio. If you can even call it that. Posting these pictures is one of the most humiliating things I've done in a long time! I have to confess that I haven't produced a single piece of anything since I returned home from the Keith LeBue workshops I attended back in April! THIS is the main reason why. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
I am a huge procrastonator. I have had all good intentions of organizing this chaos for quite some time, but it just kept taking a downward spiral into bigger and bigger piles of 'stuff.' Which I have nobody to blame but myself. I am a horrible collector/packrack/hoarder of 'interesting' things which I know have potential to be morphed into something totally awesome...even though I'm not sure exactly what that could be at that precise moment. So I end up buying it, because "I may never find that exact treasure again!" In fact, these pictures are only a small portion of the mess. It doesn't begin to show the true magnitude of the problem. I think I'd have been even more ashamed if I really showed pictures of the whole area. I truly AM the 'professed shopaholic!' I have mounds and mounds of wonderful found objects, art supplies, rubber stamps....you name it...buried in heaps everywhere. It is like trying to walk through a maze to even get to stuff. Heaps on worktables...heaps on the floor...even heaps on top of pre-existing heaps. When I would get up enough willpower to actually go down to the 'bowels' of the house to spiffy things up, I would get soooooo overwhelmed at where to even think of possibly beginning the horrible task. So, feeling defeated, I would trudge over to my computer, located on the outer fringes of the mess, to log onto ebay. And of course THAT always leads to finding even more cool 'when will I ever find this kind of thing again' treasures. A true 'catch 22' situation! The poor postman has been coming to the door on a 'much too regular basis' lately, bearing package after package of my 'must haves.' I often wonder what runs through his mind as he stands at the door with his arms heaped with my purchases. He probably thinks I'm some lunatic who has a major purchasing problem. Hmm....Is there any hope for me???????? Do they have 'shopper's anonymous' for compulsive hoarders such as myself????? Anyhow... I was chatting with my good friend Kim Nugent on Thursday. I asked her if she'd like to go for coffee and a little shopping, to which she said yes. So after stopping for a quick bite of lunch and a little caffeine buzz, we meandered into a few antique shops. It is truly a rare occurrance if I walk out of an antique shop without some little purchase. And Thursday was no different. I confessed to Kim how I have done nothing artistic in several months because of the predicament I have created for myself in my studio. I would love to work on projects, but the lack of any empty work surface to work puts a kabosh on that thought in a hurry. Sweet Kim offered to help me get my art space organized again. I immediately warned her that she didn't know what she was getting herself into. But she said "I'm sure it isn't that bad." So I then asked her when she would like to do this. Now mind you, this question was asked late Thursday afternoon. She quickly responded, "how about tomorrow?" She really took me off-guard. I wasn't expecting it to be so soon!!!!!!!!!!!

So I gratefully agreed. I was a little apprehensive to actually have her go down there and see how much of a disaster the studio was. My ultimate goal has been for quite a while now to expand my workspace and create different workareas for different types of mediums. What I wanted to do (and actually started a month ago, but again hadn't finished), was to build myself a large workbench to do all my metalsmithing work. I had purchased two solid-wood storage cabinets which needed to be assembled. The boxes were soooo heavy that my son had to carry them down to the basement for me. I managed to put together the first cabinet after about 2 weeks of 'piddling' on it, but couldn't bear the thought of having to go through the hellish torture yet again to assemble the other one. Ironically, last week I did start working on it and got it about 2/3 done, but I couldn't push myself quite enough to finish it up. Well, knowing Kim would be at my door at 10:00 a.m. yesterday gave me the push I needed. I didn't want to feel like a total loser with it laying spralled out on the limited area of floor that wasn't tainted with clutter. So I diligently worked like a madwoman to get the workbench built. And you know what???????? I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes! Miracles DO happen!!!!!

Kim arrived at my house yesterday morning as planned. It took me a little while before I got up enough courage to give her the 'grand tour' of the basement. At the top of the stairway I turned to her and told her that she's going to have a stroke when she see's what she's getting herself into. Then we began to descend into hell.....

I couldn't believe it. She wasn't scared away by the mess. In fact, being the kind person she is, she told me that she's 'seen worse.' (A little hard to believe, but hey, it sort of made me feel a little sense of relief!)

We began to move things around, and by the early evening, progress could actually be seen! We finally decided to call it a day and were both pleased with how much we really did accomplish. We wound up the evening by sitting out on the deck while enjoying some fabulous wine and noshing on cheese and crackers (left over from the graduation party). It was so relaxing to just kick back and unwind out there, as the sun was just setting over the river in our backyard. I promise to post the progression of the project next week.

Yes....I'm Still Alive!!!

I know I've been horrible at blogging lately! I had a major computer crash (again), but this time, I lost everything that I didn't have backed up. I lost my emails, lots of pictures, songs I downloaded from itunes, and who knows what else! Mike always told me to back my computer up, but I thought, "Oh...it'll be fine...I'll do it one of these days." Huge mistake!!! I should've listened to him. It happened shortly after my last post. I came down to my computer one morning to find I couldn't even boot the thing up! I just sat in disbelief...staring at the computer screen's cryptic message about failed harddrives. Anyhow, I am now back up and running again, and will make more of an effort to keep current with my blog.

On May 31st, Bernie Berlin, Kim Nugent, and myself had another 'Girl's Day Out." This time we met at a little cafe in downtown Cedarburg. I've got to back up and tell this rather eerie story that leads up to this. The day before we were going to meet, I decided to go shopping in Milwaukee. One of my stops was 'Barnes & Noble.' I like to look through all the arty magazines to see what's new. So as I was sitting there flipping through "Haute Handbags," I came across these really cool purses that are made of clear vinyl with clear pockets on each side which you can put ATC's. I remembered that my sister had talked about them a while back and was interested in getting one. I looked through the article, and found the website for the purses. So I rummaged through my purse and found an old envelope in there to jot the website down. I shoved it back in my purse and continued shopping. On the way home, I found it was getting close to suppertime, so I called my husband to see if he'd like me to pick up something from Cosa. He said sure, and then told me that Bernie had called while I was gone to let me know where we were going to be meeting tomorrow. So I called Bernie. She told me where we were going to be meeting, and what time to be there. Then she told me that 2 other gals were going to be joining us...Mary Welsh and Erin Mueller...the gals from 'PURSuE your Art'. I almost fainted!!! They are the ones who make those very purses that I was looking at in the magazine and jotted their website down!!!! Is that weird, or what???!!!

(Bernie , Me, Mary, Debbie, Kim, and Erin)

We had a nice lunch and sat outside in the back of the cafe, since it was such a beautiful day. After we were finished, we posed for a group shot. The gal in the middle is Debbie, a friend of Bernie's. She usually stays with Debbie when she comes up here from Tennessee.

After our lunch, we checked out a few shops in Cedarburg, and parted ways with Mary, Erin, and Debbie. We went on to Milwaukee to check out an art supply store, and ended up buying a bunch of supplies to play with. After a few stops at Mayfair Mall, we enjoyed a late dinner at P.F. Chang's, and headed back home. It is so much fun to get together with Bernie and Kim. We have such a good time, and we do a lot of laughing!!

This past Sunday, my daughter Jessica graduated from high school. I can't believe my little girl is all grown up. Where does the time go??? The commencement was held in the gym instead of outdoors because of the horrible weather we've been having. Is this rain ever going to end???

(Jessica and Me Before the Commencement)

Fortunately, the weather held out until later in the afternoon, so people could mingle outside of the school after the ceremony. We had a nice party for her afterwards with about 40 people...mostly relatives. Of course when the party was starting to wind down, severe weather started again, so it became a mad scramble to get everything at the hall cleaned up, packed up and loaded up so we could try to get home before the rain started pouring.

(Jessica's Graduation Day - June 8, 2008)

The Joys of Birdwatching

A Robin's Nest in our Yard

"Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom." - Benjaman Franklin

I am fortunate to live where there is so much beauty in nature. Gazing out at the tranquil river in our backyard has such a calming and peaceful effect on me. I like to sit quietly and listen to the different birds singing their joyful songs, and watch for them as they fly about, looking for food. I get so excited when I spy a bird that's different from the usual varities that I'm used to seeing, and usually have a bird guide handy so I can try to identify them.

While taking my little puggies out for their 'potty' last Thursday, I noticed a robin's nest in the pine tree in our front yard. The poor mother robin flitted out from the nest and flew to a nearby tree, where she kept a close watch on me and kept singing a loud 'scolding' song. I carefully moved the branches of the pine tree to discover her nest. I was careful not to touch anything close to the nest, but I did look in to discover 1 bright blue egg in it. It's fun to watch the progress in the nest now. On Friday I found that there were 2 eggs in it, and Saturday the nest was holding 3 beautiful blue eggs. Yesterday there was no change, and I haven't checked yet today.

A Little Finch on our Deck

We've also had some cute little raspberry-colored finches that have been landing on the railing of our deck, so yesterday I put up 2 finch feeders for them. It didn't take long at all before those pretty little birds found the feeders. There were 2 of the yellow finches that showed up, but the majority of the time, you'll find at least 4 of the little reddish ones there. These are a few photos of the little finches taken about an hour after the feeders were put up.

Another Finch Arrives on the Deck

I'm glad the feeders are up, because now we can watch them from our kitchen table. Mugsy (our portly pug) likes to watch them too. He lays in front of the patio doors with his chin resting on the bottom of the glass, and makes a big fuss when he sees them land. Hopefully he won't scare them away with all his yipping.

The Valley Ridge Art Studio Experience

Early Morning Fog at Valley Ridge

I'm finally back from Valley Ridge Art Studio, where I took two workshops with Keith LoBue. I left for Valley Ridge last Monday Morning, stopping only a few times to shop on the 3 1/2 hour drive there. My first stop was at an antiques shop in Columbus. The woman who owns the shop immediately recognized me as the 'art girl' who always stops enroute to workshops. She always has to check out what latest creations I'm wearing. She introduced me to another gal who works there who also enjoys making altered art. She told me she loves my work, and has seen my art in several of Stampington & Company's publications. I always find little treasures there. This time, I left with a bunch of old books, a wonderful tin litho religious plate, a crucifix, and a little pile of battered leather coin purses. They're fairly worn and tattered, but they had 'the look' as I like to refer to things that I feel have possibilities for future art projects. From there, I stopped in Madison and ate at Panera Bread, and checked out the '20% off everything you can stuff in the bag' sale at Old Navy. I left there with a pile of summer tops (like I really need even more of them!).

Spring Flowers in Bloom at Valley Ridge

I arrived at Valley Ridge around 6:30 p.m., and was greeted by Kathy and Bill, the owners, who provide the most wonderful environment for artists to hone their skills under the direction of numerous well-known and published artistans from all over the United States, and even Australia! They go out of their way to make everyone's experience there absolutely wonderful. And the food there.......simply incredible!!! They did some extensive remodeling over the Winter. In addition to building their unbelievably amazing house, they renovated Kathy's former studio into a community room, where the lunches are served and artists can mingle and form wonderful friendships. The farmhouse on the property was turned into a guest house, where up to 4 students can enjoy lodging on-site. I was lucky enough to be able to stay there for my 8 days there, which was so much fun. The added bonus for me was not having to drive back and forth to Dodgeville every day like I had been doing for all my previous workshops there. The gals I shared the house with were great, and we all really bonded as we got to know one another.

Keith giving a demo on cutting jump rings

The first two days there were for the Wire class. The class was full...I think about 14 students were in it. Keith showed us many techniques for working with wire...from bending and forming it, to forging and riveting with it. The pieces he creates incorporating wire with found objects are amazing! He is such an inspiration, and such a character!

The Motley Crew of the Master Workshop

L to R: Pam (from Illinois), Janet (from Nebraska), Brenda (from Wisconsin), Keith (from Australia), Me, Kathy (from Illinois), and Anastasia (from Texas)

The second workshop Keith gave was a 5 day master workshop, "Beyond Precious Little." This workshop focused on using our metalsmithing skills and incorporating found objects to create wonderful pieces of art. We honed the techniques learned in previous workshops, and touched on other techniques such as etching on metal, making hinges and clasps, photographing artwork, and troubleshooting problems in assembling a piece of work. There were 6 of us in this workshop - with 4 of us staying in the farmhouse onsite. This workshop was the absolute best! We all got along so well...and we all did a lot of laughing and joking around! We even had several 'field trips' during the course of our stay! We went 'junking' on Friday evening, and ended up taking a tour of the 'Don Q.' Now that is a story in itself!!!!! It was truly a memorable and funny experience! I don't think any of us will ever be able to look at each other the same way after all the joking around we did there!!!!!!!! We also went to Mineral Point on Saturday afternoon, hoping to take in a few antique shops, but it seemed like the shops we were all geared up to go to were either out of business or closed for one reason or another. It was disappointing, but we did manage to squeeze in a few galleries on the main drag instead. And Keith just had to check out the old local hardware store. He picked up some copper and brass wire in there, and when he came out and told us they actually sold brass wire (which can be hard to find), we all went in to snap up some for ourselves, only to find he had bought all the brass wire they had on hand!!!

Keith and Me (wearing one of Keith's Neckpieces)

The time passed so quickly, and it was sad to have the workshop come to an end this past Monday. It's hard to have to pack up all your tools at the end of the workshop, and say your 'goodbyes' to everyone; knowing you have a long drive back home ahead of you, and having to go back to the realities of everyday life. I can't wait until the beginning of August, when I will be staying at Valley Ridge again for 2 of Nina Bagley's workshops. I highly recommend checking out Valley Ridge's Website at www.valleyridgeartstudio.com, and registering for some workshops there. I'm so glad I did...this is my 4th year of taking workshops there, and it was the best thing I could've ever done!!!!!